by D. R. Rosier
Arnath woke with a silent scream. His body covered with sweat. The last week had gone well for him campaign wise, outside of gods be damned Nerin. What a disaster that was. He had all his earth magic talents building traps, tricks, and fortifications. The enemy would be torn apart when they came.
But there was something wrong with his personal quest and it enraged him. He was changing in some fundamental way. His soldiers had brought back women from the nearby towns, and as he trained them he felt no joy or thrill in it. He felt dead inside. That’s when the nightmares of that night two months ago had started; he had been dreaming it the last four days.
He was afraid…
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Katrina was tossing and turning, nervous about tomorrow. Though, she tried not to bump into Justin, he would need his sleep. She was worried about what tomorrow would bring. They had their last strategy session a few hours ago, she knew what she had to do. It was simple really, she could hold her tiger form all day without issue, so during the battle she would transform and stay by his side.
She knew Justin’s magic although incredibly strong, was more limited than that. They had been experimenting at Anton’s suggestion a couple of days ago. It had seemed to her the more power he channeled the faster he would tire out. If he simple touched people, like her, his power could be used almost endlessly, channeling small amounts of magic.
But when she watched him use the full scope and power of his magic, which was impressive, covering at least a hundred yards around him in all directions with his white fire, it only lasted about fifteen minutes before he was spent.
She glanced at his sleeping form so close to hers. The plan was simple really, at least, for their group. They would be in the center of the troops, possibly the safest place available. Anton had talked them into letting him direct his power, when called depending on the order, he was supposed to either flash a quick wave to cancel out the enemies’ magic for just a moment, which would conserve his energy.
She knew the other command of course, would be for him to put out sustained power that would basically make the troops untouchable by the enemy’s power, while charging and refreshing their bodies and talents. Of course, it would not stop physical attacks, but should tip the balance if done at the right time.
She worried though. But she was thankful the Flame of Cytherea was a protective power. Unless things went horribly wrong he would not be in danger. None of them would be. She cuddled against him and drew a deep breath, taking in his scent. Eventually she calmed, determined to protect him if in fact, the worst happened, and drifted off into sleep.
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Nora woke up to a light grunt. She could see the low light outside through the creases and small holes that tents develop and knew dawn had arrived. She almost giggled when she heard Katrina moaning into the bedding. She frowned feeling guilty. She had been almost giddy a few times recently, spending time with Justin, it was so… unlike her. And she always felt a stab of guilt, knowing she should be with her sisters, and hoping that somehow, they were okay. That somehow, they were pleased for her.
She almost laughed at the next extremely poor attempt to suppress the sounds they were making as they tried to fuck sideways in secret. She had caught them doing it that first night in the tent, but didn’t ever say anything. They actually thought they were getting away with something, and she had to admit to herself it was kind of hot they were fucking not more than two feet away from her.
She was pretty sure both Nicci and Sally knew as well, but they hadn’t talked about it at all, just shared a laugh one night a few days ago. She didn’t mind though, she had no right to judge if they liked the risk of screwing around others. Thinking about how she had begged for the privilege to lick his ass two nights ago, she definitely didn’t have the right to judge.
When she felt herself lick her lips she deliberately changed the track of her thoughts, there was no time for a tryst this morning. They would be shortly marching toward the enemy…
She was still angry, very angry, that those fuckers had invaded and killed her sisters. She had been a bit disappointed to find out she would be in the middle of the troops. She wanted to protect Justin; she would be devastated if he followed her sisters without her, or really, died at all. But she wanted to kill the invaders as well.
She would surely be sharp and ready for any of their troops that made it within range of her magic. She had been practicing when she found time alone. Justin had told her about a strange device on his world, called guns. That shot small metal things at high speeds. At first she had been unbelieving that such a small thing could kill when he held his thumb and forefinger much less than an inch apart.
In the past and in her training she had always compressed air into blades, as long and as sharp as a sword. But she gave the strange idea a try and formed highly compressed balls of air that were small. She was taken aback at how little magic it actually took. When she sent them at a tree as fast as she could, well, she was surprised at the devastating result.
She was really looking forward to seeing its effect on one of those Egerian fuck heads…
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Sally was staring at the tent top, listening to Kat’s and Justin’s poorly disguised fucking, deep in thought. She was actually a little turned on and wistful about it, wishing it was her that his strong arms held from behind as he… she cut off the thought.
She had been confused though, he clearly wanted her, she could see it in his eyes when they spent their daily time together, a time she always looked forward too. At first she was offended that he hadn’t, but she thought she understood why.
When she had first come here, she had been obsessed with her dishonor, only to find out the dishonor was her mother’s, and she had been under a horrifying spell that stripped her will and forced her to think in a specific way. She thought she understood why her mother did it, she must have been scared she would slip one day and bring the Uleni down on them. Understanding though, was not excusing, it was unforgivable.
Not only hadn’t he accepted her absurd oath, he had freed her, saved her, and she had been instantly infatuated and smitten with him. He was a strong and good man, and his body was… she cut off that line of thought when her breathing picked up and she felt a tingle in her core.
She had also found herself bubbly and joking. She was the oldest of them at twenty four, although she still looked closer to twenty. She had never been a bubbly person before.
So she was pretty sure he was denying himself because he didn’t want to take advantage of her. She hardly knew herself right now, that spell had completely altered her personality. Add to that her hero worship of him which made her amorous feelings suspect. She was almost sure that’s why he hadn’t ask her yet, despite the way he looked at her, and the clear signals she had been sending him.
What was so frustrating was she was sure time was the only fix for what was keeping them apart; she needed to ground herself as her own person first. As for her feelings for Justin, she doubted they would go away. They had only grown as they spent time together. But perhaps, they would mature.
When the scent of Kat’s arousal reached her side of the tent she almost groaned out loud in frustration. How could they possibly believe it’s a secret? With a small sigh she decided she shouldn’t be distracted and frustrated today with the coming battle.
She needed relief.
She slowly slid her hands down her body, pinching her nipples on the way down as she constructed a screen around her with magic, to block both outgoing sound and scent. She knew how to keep things a secret… And be as loud as she wanted…
When her fingertips started teasing her core she fantasized about Justin’s large fingers, and other things on his body…
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When Nicci woke up, all the others were already moving around and packing up. Unlike Sally, she had no idea why he hadn’t approached her, and she had been getting irritable about it. She had taken her own advice and opened
up to him, and to some extent the other women.
She was happy she did, as the world of companionship was opened to her. She really hadn’t had that before. The people she dealt with in the castle were all nice enough, but she wasn’t treated like a person there, they didn’t see her, all they had seen was a princess, an ornament.
She could tell Justin was attracted to her. He was more subtle about it than most, keeping eye contact and actually looking at her face most of the time. But she had caught him more than once, out of the corner of her eye, with his eyes lingering over her body when he had thought she wasn’t looking.
They had both also enjoyed their time together during the march. She noticed he had made a point to spend a few hours with each of them every day. So what was it that gave him pause? Was she just not good enough for him?
She pushed that thought aside as she got dressed and gathered her things. Today she would have another chance to prove herself. She thought she had done relatively well her first time, although, passing out on the road outside of a town probably wasn’t the best ending to her debut battle.
She would prove she wasn’t an ornament, maybe then he would take her…
Chapter 12
Justin finally got a glance of the hillock from the scouting reports. Although it was only two miles away, it had taken them close to a half hour to march the distance. It looked more like a ramp, then a small hill. There was only one approachable slope, and based on what he was seeing it would be costly to take.
The sides were extremely steep, and according to the reports, the opposite side was practically a sheer cliff. The enemy was dug in well too; they must have been here for a while. He was a little worried about it, from what he had read back on Earth, the defenders had the much easier time, and they only had six thousand soldiers with them. From what the scouts said, the enemy had about two thirds of that, more than enough to win as the defenders of a siege.
He wasn’t sure how accurate it was, but he had heard defenders with fortifications if done right could face ten to one odds.
Of course, he wasn’t on Earth, and magical talents would surely rewrite those rules. Still, he knew there was a rule about not letting the enemy pick the battle site, but they didn’t really have a choice here. Actually, they did have a choice, the idea of encircling them and choking off their supplies had been considered when he brought it up. The idea being they would be forced eventually to come down and face them in the open, or starve, but too many were against the idea.
They wanted the enemy gone now, out of their kingdom.
He thought it was foolish, a decision based on their emotions and anger, but he wasn’t in charge so let it go. They would be attacking. He put his hand on Kat’s flank feeling better for her presence. Nora and Sally were close to him too and Nicci was circling above, high enough to take in everything and out of range of any enemy magic, but low enough to respond quickly.
They stopped fairly close to the hill and as they formed the first group of soldiers who would charge what he was sure was a corridor of death, the ground below them rumbled. Sharp spears of rock burst from the ground all around him, impaling the unlucky soldiers to be standing in the wrong place.
Without waiting for the order he put out a short flash that calmed the ground beneath their feet, canceling the magic that had been lying in wait, but the damage had been done. He shook his head as the initial assault group yelled angrily and charged.
He healed those that were still alive, but many, perhaps two hundred of the soldiers were dead. He watched the charge and felt his stomach drop, as he waited for some other trick. To his surprise they advanced quite a bit, meeting minimal resistance and mowing over it. A second assault group was sent, followed by a third.
The better the charge went, the more nervous he got, it didn’t make sense. From what he could see of the front lines, it was absolutely chaotic. Fire was thrown around, blades of air, attacks from the ground, weapons flying through the air, walls of stone exploded, trenches were collapsed. It seemed clear they were still advancing, somehow keeping the upper hand in this fight. Their forces were taking out both the enemy and their fortifications while taking negligible losses.
The Egerians were caught up with evil, but they weren’t stupid and the enemy commander had proven intelligent so far. He thought it possible that they just had better talents, but thought it far more likely there was a trap just waiting for them to be in position for.
He heard Prince Anton order the middle to advance, and he hoped whatever trick was waiting wouldn’t be set off before he was in position. It didn’t take long for him to reach the position they had gone over during planning, and he waited for the order. He now had the whole hillock in the range of his magic. Something though, still felt very wrong.
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Arnath watched the enemy army advancing quickly, he could hardly believe how well his plan was going. He turned to the earth talent next to him and ordered, “Wait five more minutes, then start the collapse.”
A month ago he may have felt a twinge of guilt at the fifteen hundred men he was intentionally sacrificing, merely bait for his trap, but his soul was so damaged now he felt nothing as he dropped into the trap door and made his way down the tunnel. He had his earth talents working on this for a while, and in a few minutes almost the entire hillock would collapse in on itself.
Almost all six thousand of the enemy troops were already on the slope. He thought most would be killed and buried by the event. But none would get away, he had three thousand more troops, and they were fresh and waiting for the collapse before acting on the order he had given to spring the second stage of the trap.
Sadly, he felt no accomplishment, or really anything about it. He was just following his orders. He would gain this kingdom for his king, and for his new god.
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Nora gasped as she felt the ground shake beneath her. She heard Anton’s order and felt flames refresh and protect her as they all lit up in white fire. But the shaking didn’t stop and like a wave from the top, the hillock started to collapse in on itself. Whatever had been done with magic, the magic part was done, this was now nothing but a natural collapse and his magic couldn’t stop it.
Desperately she reached out with her magic and launched them all backwards, high in the sky. She was having trouble cushioning them all properly for the landing. She sighed in relief when she felt Sally’s magic reach out and take over for herself, and Katrina in her large and very heavy tiger form. It was easy to direct the landing toward the base of the disappearing hillock with only herself and Justin to control.
She watched in horror as all but the air, telekinesis, shape shifting birds, and earth talents were swallowed up by the collapsing mountain. Only the thousand or so soldiers near the bottom were unaffected. The talents had managed to save a handful of others as they escaped, but not nearly enough. Outside of Justin and the three women, maybe fifty others made it off the collapsing hillock. She was horrified.
Close to five thousand men dead in just a few seconds.
At the sound of crashing behind her she turned and saw the ground open up and so many soldiers came up out of the ground it wasn’t convenient to count. It was a trap that she never could have even thought of much less anticipated. She felt guilty, wishing they had listened more to Justin’s ideas. So many dead, and now wasn’t the time to deal with it.
She was still surrounded by white fire, and this was their only chance, the odds were stacked against them, at least three to one. She just hoped their initial and limited advantage would be enough. She started using those air… bullets she thought he called them. She felt a surge of satisfaction as a soldier’s head practically exploded. She needed to concentrate if they were to have any chance, and she got to work…
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Kat roared and took off another head, her powerful claw tearing it right off the enemy soldier. She watched peripherally as Nora took out a frightening amount of enemies but she was focus
ed on those that got by Nora’s hail of air magic. She swore to herself she would not let anything get to Justin. He was on fire and his body was still, using all his concentration to maintain his magic.
She just hoped he could hold on long enough to at least even the odds, if not put them in their favor. The just over a thousand soldiers that were left started to form a line around them which made her feel a little safer, but she didn’t let down her guard any. She would die before she let anything happen to him…
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Sally was going to call a storm and lightning, but at seeing the way Nora was using her air magic, so little power with such devastating results, she copied it, and started shooting little balls of air at every enemy soldier she could see. Some things took her a while to learn, but what Nora was doing was simple.
She saw the sky turn cloudy, and felt the magic at work. There was another mage on the battle field and outside the range of Justin’s power, as were the clouds above them. She regretfully stopped her assault and concentrated on dispersing the clouds, she was afraid her power would be caught up in simply stopping the other mage. Still, that was better than allowing an attack. She concentrated on the magic in the area, trying to identify where the mage was… Failing that, she concentrated on identifying the next attack.
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Arnath growled in frustration. A damn Flame of the goddess? His trap worked perfectly, but his three to one odds were slowly dwindling as his men were slaughtered, unable to respond with their talents as the gods be damned Flame supported his enemies.
He had tried to create a storm and attack with lightning. He wasn’t sure if a Flame’s magic could stop that, both he and the clouds would be out of range, and the lightning would actually be a natural force. But there was another mage choking off his efforts. He cursed bitterly as he watched, impatiently waiting for the Flame to tire himself out…
